


Every Second Counts

by notsaddabbergirl



Category: Original Work
Genre: Abusive Caregiver, Abusive Parents, Anxiety, Child Neglect, Crying, Gaslighting, Horror, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mutilation, Parent Death, Psychological Horror, Psychological Trauma, Suicidal Thoughts, at least it is my attempt at it, implied child neglect, implied suicidal thoughts, its implied at least but believe what u will, spoilers for it after THIS TAG
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29601111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notsaddabbergirl/pseuds/notsaddabbergirl
Summary: A story of a kid waiting for their dad to come home.
Kudos: 1





	Every Second Counts

**Author's Note:**

> Please pay attention to the tags, as they hold the trigger warnings for this story!
> 
> Stay safe everyone!

Staring at my clock, I counted the seconds in each minute.

_ One, two, three. _

He should be home soon.

_ Four, five, six. _

How many seconds has it been since he left? Have I lost track? 

Surely it wasn’t too long.

_ Six, seven, eight, nine. _

I heard the front door open.

_ Ten. _

From the softness of the footsteps, I knew it wasn’t him.

_ Eleven, twelve, thirteen. _

My bedroom door opened. I didn’t need to look to see who it was.

_ Fourteen, fifteen. _

“Good morning, darling. How are you feeling today?”

_ Sixteen, seventeen. _

“Oh dear, you haven’t changed your bandages since the last time I was here. Here, love, let me help.”

_ Eighteen, nineteen, twenty. _

She was gentle when removing the wraps around my chest. It made it easier to breathe.

_ Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three. _

It hurts so much. I remember the night it happened. 

_ Twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six. _

“Y’know he won’t be happy if these get infected. You need to take care of yourself better or he’ll be upset again.”

_ Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine. _

“Are you still mad at me? You know that I’m only trying to do what’s best for you.”

_ Thirty. _

I still remember our argument.

_ Thirty-one. _

The begging.

_ Thirty-two. _

The yelling.

_ Thirty-three. _

The pain.

_ Thirty-four. _

“You can’t possibly blame me for what happened. It’s not my fault that you were caught being ungrateful.”

_ Thirty-five. _

“Your father does a lot for you, y’know. He works very hard to support you.”

_ Thirty-six. _

_ “ _ I know he hasn’t been back to see you since all those weeks ago, but that’s only because you really hurt him, darling.”

_ Thirty-seven. _

What a dumb, old hag. Weeks? She must have lost her mind. 

_ Thirty-eight. _

I can remember everything clearly. It was yesterday, after all.

_ Thirty-nine. _

It’s what I get for complaining. 

_ “I want him dead so much! And I know it’s wrong, but he-” _

I should appreciate him for his kindness.

_"he_ _took everything from me! Why can’t he be punished?”_

Afterall, he wasn’t so kind to mother. 

_ “Why did I have to suffer when I’ve never done any wrong!?” _

That’s why she isn’t around anymore.

_ “Tell me!” _

She isn’t anywhere anymore.

_ “Why!?” _

I’m next.

_ Fifty. _

“Deep breaths now, darling. It’s alright to cry, I never meant to make you cry, I’m sorry.”

_ Fifty-one. _

“You’re shaking. You need to calm down. Please calm down.”

_ Fifty-two. _

“What do you want? Me to apologize again? You’re being so inconsiderate. This is hard for me too.”

_ Fifty-three. _

“I didn’t enjoy watching what happened. But it really is no surprise on why he was upset with your little outburst.”

_ Fifty-four. _

“It’s your fault for not watching the time. It’s like you don’t even care about whether he is home or not.”

_ Fifty-five. _

“I would really miss you if anything fatal happened. So please, don’t make him upset again.”

_ Fifty-six. _

“However, it is very rude and selfish to wish death on anyone. Especially your father.”

_ Fifty-seven. _

“I suppose you could find it funny, though. You wish death upon him and get this in return, yet you’re upset?”

_ Fifty-eight. _

“It’s going to make such an ugly scar. But I suppose that’s the point of carving “die” into someone, right?”

_ Fifty-nine. _

“I’m going to take off now, love. Please take care of yourself. I can only help you with so much.”

_ Sixty. _

The door creaked as it opened. 

I held my breath.

_ Wait. _

The door closed, and there were no more footsteps. 

_ Breathe. _

I looked at my bedroom door, and thought back to a time where it didn’t hurt to breathe.

_ Live. _

To a time when I wasn’t punished for living.

_ He’s late. _

It’s odd of him to come home late. I suppose he only left yesterday though.

~~_ “I know he hasn’t been back to see you since all those weeks ago.” _ ~~

He’ll be back soon.

~~_ He is going to kill you when he gets home. You know this. _ ~~

A deep breath.

~~_ Why do you wait around to die? _ ~~

I can’t wait until the day that I can breathe again.

~~_ You are going to die. _ ~~

Looking back at my clock, I stared.

_ One, two, three. _

**Author's Note:**

> I left a lot of open and nonconfirmed aspects within this to leave it up to the reader to decide. 
> 
> Examples:  
> Is the mom dead or is the main character speaking theoretically? Did the mom leave and abandon her child? Did she do so willingly? If the caregiver with the main character, isn't the mom, then who is it? 
> 
> Have fun theorizing everything! I had fun writing this and love hearing different people's theories and interpretations!


End file.
